PCN Social Prescribing Link Worker

Posting date:	23 June 2025
Salary:	£30,000.00 to £36,000.00 per year
Additional salary information:	£30000.00 - £36000.00 a year
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	20 July 2025
Location:	London, NW1 1TN
Company:	NHS Jobs
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	B0328-25-0006

Summary

The following are the core responsibilities of the Social Prescribing Link Worker. There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels. Manage referrals from member GP practices and the PCN Anticipatory Care Team, applying tailored social prescribing approaches that reflect each patients needs and priorities. Proactively identify and work with patients, including those who are frail, elderly, or living with long-term conditions, to coordinate care and navigate support across health and social care services. Provide personalised support to patients, families, and carers to promote independence, improve quality of life, and support better health outcomes. Build trusting, empathetic relationships by focusing on what matters most to each patient, using a holistic, strengths-based approach that considers the wider determinants of health. Co-produce personalised support plans with patients, linking them to appropriate community groups, activities, and services to ensure timely access to the right support. Help patients address challenges such as debt, poor housing, unemployment, loneliness, and caring responsibilities that affect their health and wellbeing. Collaborate closely with GP practices and the wider PCN multidisciplinary team to ensure patients receive timely, coordinated support to manage their health and access relevant services. Facilitate access to community, statutory, and voluntary sector services, promoting care that reflects each patients preferences and supports their overall wellbeing. Support and strengthen local VCSE organisations to ensure they can safely and effectively receive social prescribing referrals. Educate clinical and non-clinical colleagues within the PCN on the local community support offer, advising on when and how patients can access it, and champion the value of non-medical interventions. Promote social prescribing across the PCN and with external agencies, highlighting its role in improving health outcomes, reducing inequalities, easing pressure on healthcare services, and supporting self-management. Act as a trusted source of guidance on wellbeing and preventative health, raising awareness of local resources and empowering individuals to take greater control of their health. Engage confidently and sensitively with individuals from diverse backgrounds, adapting approaches to reflect varied cultural, social, and environmental contexts. Maintain accurate, timely records and produce high-quality documentation in line with organisational and information governance standards. KEY TASKS Referrals Screen and accept or reject social prescribing referrals from PCN member practices in collaboration with the GP supervisor. Promote social prescribing as an approach across the PCN by attending relevant MDT meetings to build relationships and raise awareness. Proactively encourage equitable participation in social prescribing across the PCN, ensuring accessibility for diverse and underserved communities. Provide personalised support Meet patients, families, and carers on a one-to-one basis, make home visits, and meet with community organisations where appropriate. Use appropriate judgement to ascertain the number and length of sessions required, responding to the needs of the individual and their circumstances. Give patients time to tell their stories and focus on the question, "What matters to me?". Build trust and respect with patients, providing non-judgemental and non-discriminatory support, taking a strengths-based approach that focuses on a patients assets. Work with patients, families, and carers and consider how they can all be supported through social prescribing. Help patients identify the wider issues that impact their health and wellbeing, such as debt, poor housing, unemployment, loneliness and caring responsibilities. Co-produce simple, personalised support plans based on patients priorities, interests, values, and cultural or religious needs. Clearly explain and provide information on the services, groups, and activities the patient is being connected to. Provide information on self-care approaches to improve health and wellbeing. Physically accompany patients to groups or services where appropriate, ensuring they feel comfortable, valued, and respected. Offer follow-up support to encourage ongoing engagement and ensure satisfaction. Help patients maintain or regain independence through skills training, adaptations, enablement approaches, and simple safeguards. Where patients may be eligible for a personal health budget, help them to explore this option as a way of providing funded, personalised support to be independent, including helping them to gain skills for meaningful employment, where appropriate. Provide support in the patients preferred language, either directly if fluent or through professional translation services such as Language Line or other approved interpreters. Seek advice and support from the GP supervisor and/or designated individuals to discuss safeguarding concerns and follow safeguarding policies around reporting and/or escalating concerns. Seek advice and support from the GP supervisor and/or designated individuals to discuss concerns outside the scope of practice. Make appropriate onward referrals where needed. Supporting the community offer Develop strong, supportive relationships with local VCSE organisations, community groups, and services to understand their offerings and facilitate timely, appropriate, and well-supported referrals. Create strong links with local agencies to utilise existing networks and build on existing provision. Collaborate with local partners to ensure accessibility and sustainability of community groups. Work with commissioners and local partners to identify and share information on unmet diverse needs within the community and gaps in service provision. Support the development of community groups that promote diversity and inclusion. Encourage patients to volunteer or start their own groups after engaging with community support. Support existing local volunteering schemes to strengthen community resilience and explore potential to develop a team of volunteers to provide buddying support, peer support or to start new community-based groups or activities. Data capture and feedback Support referral agencies to provide appropriate information about the patient they are referring, including demographic data and data on wider determinants, for example, caring status. Provide appropriate and timely feedback to referral agencies about the patients they referred. Work sensitively with patients, their families and carers to capture key information to measure the impact of social prescribing on their health and wellbeing, using validated tools determined locally such as the ONS4 wellbeing scale or MYCAW to assess needs and measure outcomes. Encourage patients, families, and carers to provide feedback on their experience, for example, through patient satisfaction surveys, and to share their stories about the impact of social prescribing on their lives. Ensure that social prescribing referral SNOMED codes are recorded appropriately into clinical systems (as outlined in the Network Contract DES). Adhere to organisational policies around data protection legislation and data sharing agreements, ensuring patients give appropriate consent. Collaborate as part of the MDT to gather feedback, drive continuous service improvement, and contribute to service planning. Assess patient and staff feedback to evaluate the quality of service and the impact of social prescribing. Continuing professional development Undertake continual personal and professional development in line with the Social Prescribing Workforce Development Framework Competency Framework. Participate in regular supervision. Take an active role in reflecting, reviewing, and developing professional knowledge, skills and behaviours. Attend appropriate mandatory training before working with patients and be aware of own competence, maintaining boundaries around scope of practice and referring onwards for patients whose needs fall outside of these boundaries. Adhere to organisational policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, equality, diversity and inclusion training, and health and safety.